PRS The McCarty Singlecut 594 Semi-Hollow

BlueingreenBlueingreen Frets: 2582
edited February 2020 in Guitar Reviews
Some background.  I did have reservations about this guitar, so much so that some will wonder why I risked the purchase; viz:

- fret size - I like big, I wasn't sure these would be big enough
- neck size - the neck on this was described as quite chunky, I usually prefer slim
- birds - I've never been super keen on them

So why buy? basically a lot of specs on this I really do like, and it's harder than you might think to get them all on the same guitar.  Specifically:

- PRS QC so much better than Gibsons IMO (and I own 3 nice Gibsons)
- Gibson scale length v the 25" on most PRS
- very light weight for a guitar broadly in the Les Paul camp at around 7.25lbs
- no break angle where the strings leave the nut. You tend to get this even on most  high end boutique guitars inspired by Gibson and I don't like it
- DGT type coil tapping options
- locking tuners as standard
- by PRS's standards at least, relatively old school aesthetics in the colour (McCarty burst) shape and f hole.
- relatively low output, traditional sounding pickups

Initial thoughts: It's pretty much as good as new. Peach mentioned slight buckle rash in their ad but without examining it under a spotlight or with a magnifying glass I honestly haven't been able to detect it.

The fit and finish ooze quality.  Sumptuous.

I've only played it through a practice amp and won’t really get a proper handle on the tones until I play it through a bigger amp at a rehearsal or gig, but it's a bit like a lighter/airer/slightly more refined LP with switching options to add sonic versatility.  I don't tend to get deep into minor tonal differences between broadly similar sounding guitars, and I've no doubt that this guitar will give me all the tones I would hope for from a good double humbucker equipped guitar.

How about my reservations?  My first attempts at playing the guitar didn't remove all doubts.  I'm a 9s player who likes as low an action and as little relief as I can get away with (minor arthritis issues), and the guitar arrived nicely set up but with 10s and a slightly higher action and a little more relief in the neck than is normal for me.  I didn't want to fiddle with any of that stuff until I was sure I was definitely keeping the guitar.  That plus the neck being a tad bulkier than I'm used to and the fret wire being a little flatter than I'm used to (I have 6100 on most of my guitars) made the guitar feel a little awkward.  For the first few days I went back and fore on it.

But I could sense the quality was there, the feel wasn't TOO far away and I knew I could improve things significantly with a change of strings and a bit of tweaking. 

Since I decided it was a keeper, I haven't looked back.  Strings changed, 10 minutes of tweaking and it now has the lowest, buzz free action I've achieved on any guitar and is probably just about the easiest to play.   Over the past 2 or 3 days I've just been loving it. The niggles recede further into the distance every time I pick it up.  I might even be a big neck guy after all. 

There may be a point in the future where I'm tempted to put on bigger frets, but meantime these are just fine - in terms of ease of playing the low action and scale length more than offset not quite having my optimal fret size.

I’ve owned and sold 2 excellent DGTs in an attempt to cover broadly similar territory but this is easily the pick of the three guitars,  better aesthetically for me and of course it's not easy to find a DGT as light as this.

The link below is to Peach's original ad for the guitar which has some pics and a demonstration video by a superb player.

https://www.peachguitars.com/prs-sc594-mccarty-semi-hollow-10-top-used.htm



“To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
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Comments

  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    That's interesting, thanks for the review. Great looking guitar.
    Which neck profile is it ? I've been tempted by some of the PRS single cuts / 245 but put off by the fact none of them come with a thin neck, as I tend to find larger necks quite tiring to play.
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  • tone1tone1 Frets: 5112
    I’m absolutely loving that.... :)
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  • Great review, 
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    I have a solid body 594.

    Fecking heavy, neck profile isn't a 60s profile (my preference) but not as log-like as you'd think  - quite comfy IME.
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    Nice review, and lovely looking guitar :-)
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  • lysander the neck is called Pattern Vintage I believe.  Definitely chunky.  Tbh a neck this chunky would have probably been a deal breaker for me in the past but I've decided to give this one the chance to win me round to chunkier necks.  So far the signs are good.  I'm possibly getting slightly more fatigue where my thumb meets the neck after playing for long periods but I'm putting that down to years of playing slim necks - I'm pretty confident I will adapt.
    “To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    Nice guitar....cant say I thought much of the demo guitarist though....didnt really explore its tonal range


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  • spark240 said:
    Nice guitar....cant say I thought much of the demo guitarist though....didnt really explore its tonal range
    By coincidence I bought the guitar just before they uploaded the video.  Either they didn't realise the guitar had already sold or they thought they'd gone far enough through the process of making the video that they may as well upload it even though the guitar had been sold.  So the video played no part in my decision to purchase the guitar.

    The playing is very good IMO but it wouldn't be very like anything I'm likely to play either in terms of style or tone, so it might not have helped sell me the guitar.  But the video gives a much better indication of how the guitar looks than the pics on Peach's website and that might have helped sell me the guitar had I seen the video first.
    “To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
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